Despite the fact that the U.S. government has a history of dangerous biological testing against the American people, the Department of Homeland Security claims that a bacteria it plans to release in the Boston subway later this year to test biological sensors is harmless to healthy people.

“Federal officials say they test the subway sensors by releasing dead bacteria called B-subtilis. They say it is used in food supplements, has been rigorously tested and has no adverse health effects for low exposure in healthy people,” reports CBS News.

What effect the tests will have on unhealthy people or those exposed to higher doses is unknown.

The tests will be held in Cambridge and Somerville during off peak hours this summer, but not before a hearing on May 16, from 5:30-7:30pm at the Cambridge YMCA in Central Square, during which the public will voice concerns and ask questions about the experiment.

The bacteria will be released as a means of testing biological sensors that guard against the threat of a bio-terror attack. The DHS has released a 28-page summary entitled ‘Environmental Assessment for Bacillus subtilis Particles to Challenge Bio-Detection Sensors in Subway Stations’ (PDF).

Given the federal government’s ominous record in releasing biological agents into subway systems and other transport hubs, it’s no surprise that this latest example is sure to cause consternation, which is probably why the feds are being so open about it.

During a Senate hearing in 1977, it was revealed that the Pentagon had conducted numerous secret germ “attacks” on cities without public knowledge in an effort to test the threat posed by biological agents. These tests “may have caused outbreaks of disease which occurred in some of the test areas,” writes Leonard A. Cole, citing the Senate inquiry.

These “attacks” included a 1964-65 program carried out by the U.S. Army which involved unsuspecting travelers being sprayed with bacteria-laden mist at Washington’s National Airport.

Another example involved light bulbs containing Bacillus globigii that were dropped in the New York Subway by government scientists and allowed to contaminate the air. Similar tests were also conducted in the Chicago subway system, but when people started falling ill the connection with the tests was fudged because the government refused to keep track of the health effects of the released substance.

The hidden U.S. history of germ testing in general also serves as a warning that allowing the government to experiment with biological agents in public which it claims are perfectly safe has not always been a wise choice.

Project SHAD, a Cold War-era Department of Defense program in which veterans were exposed to deadly chemical weapons without their knowledge or consent, also represents a dark chapter in the U.S. government’s use of dangerous biological agents against its own people.

Since the 1940′s, the military and the CIA have conducted numerous “tests” on the American people, including the release of dengue fever carrying mosquitoes in Georgia and Florida, biological warfare tests on the civilian population in Puerto Rico, the release of bacillus globigii from a submarine on the port of Oahu, Hawaii, and dozens of other incidents, most of them classified.

The history of U.S. government and military experimentation on American citizens and the innumerable deaths and illnesses that occurred as a result underscore the fact that trusting the Department of Homeland Security, which has proven itself to be one of the most corrupt and secretive federal agencies in existence, to carry out such tests in public, no matter how “safe” the DHS claims them to be, is the height of stupidity.